The artist in geek's clothing

To read the full text, please click here

Some of the headlines that the Star folks come up with are truly ingenious. For example, I'd never have come up with "Naughty children make good teachers" or "The Wongs watch Sivaji" in a million years. Never!

This time, however, I was really happy that they used my suggestion, The Artist in Geek's Clothing, because I felt it truly captured the essence of the message. Yes, writers usually supply the headlines but the editor/editorial team reserve the right to change it as deemed suitable. Which is a blessing, as headline writing was never my forte and I'm glad they didn't go with some of my lame attempts!

I wrote this while aboard the ETS back to Ipoh. I was replying to my editors when it suddenly struck me, hey, this is not something which is common years ago, yet that day, there were at least one or two other 20- and 30-somethings fiddling with their laptops in the same coach.

Times have changed - and to thrive, we must adapt to these changes, or risk left behind.

Many thanks to Peter Wang, a reader turned good friend who contributed the cute caricature which perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the article :)

Busy bee

It's been a busy, busy two months! Aside from usual columns

I've notched up:

An interview with the lovely and gently funny Yvonne Lee. A dream interviewee - accommodating (no diva attitude, this girl!), takes the time to craft well-thought-out answers that ooze personality and wit.

A story about the Sun Yat Sen trail and an interview with the irrepressible founders of We Are Ultra in Going Places March 2011 issue.

http://www.weareultra.com/press/single-gallery/9097301

An interview with artisan baker Su (who turns out to be from my alma mater Tarcisian Convent!) from Delectable in Going Places April 2011.

An incredibly fun five days at MIFF 2011, a regular gig for the last few years - and surprisingly educational. The fun factor had everything to do with the fabulous team that gelled very well together (miss you Li Jin, Li Shian and Shantini!). And educational? This year, we had one of the best editors I've ever had the pleasure of working with, Matt Young. Unbelievable how he turned ho-hum cliches into verbal gold and breathed life into the limpest of sentences. Aargh, hate him! :P

Then there was this Starmag feature on women advocates Dr Evelyn Ho and Dr Ho Choon Moy,

http://bit.ly/hIYOp3, a spinoff from the mega-project I did for Malaysian Women's Weekly last year, Great Women Of Our Time awards.

Tired, typing all that out!

Will post more pictures when I have time. Time to tear my eyes off the computer screen now. Good night!

Stranger in a Train

29 January 2011

Trivial Pursuit, Weekender, The Star

For the full text, please read here

Though some truly amazing things have happened to me by virtue of this column, I would have laughed till I was blue in the face if you had told me a year ago, that the it-could-only-happen-in-movies events in "Stranger in a train" would take place one day.

But happen it did. And things are still happening. And as I reel from the extraordinary strangeness of reality that we live in, I find myself wondering: what lies ahead for the rest of 2011?

To all my readers, thank you for a brilliant start to the year. I've always suspected that I've gotten more out of the column than I've given it, and the avalanche of encouraging letters, emails, facebook messages and smses just proves it.

Mere words will never suffice to convey my feelings when I read your heartfelt responses to my article.

Maybe emoticons will do the job?

:):):)

Or, a photo maybe?

Love you all!

The Ipoh of Yore

25 December 2010
Scratching Post, Weekender, The Star
Link to Star article

I'd like to thank Ian Anderson from Ipohworld for kindly contributing the two evocative photos used in this article.

Ipohworld, an education-based, not-for-profit organization, has done some truly remarkable work in promoting awareness and appreciation of Perak, with particular focus on Ipoh. It has become the leading information archive on Ipoh's heritage, as well as the liveliest online community for Perakeans.

Give them a shout at www.ipohworld.org

No beef

Weekender, The Star, Scratching Post

For the full text, please click here.

No, I didn't write this headline but it was worth a chuckle anyway.

Wonderful friends ...

...and wonderful pizza :)

... Sepuluh ringgit sahaja! (Obviously I like eating here very much, and not just because it's eminently affordable)

Though the question was at the back of my mind the WHOLE time when I called Frank on Sat night, I waited till the end of our phone conversation before asking timidly, "Where did you go for dinner?"

"AJ. Ta pau."

"Were there anybody who came because of the article?" Gulp. Nervous. Sweat.

"Got."

Phew.

He continued grimly, "A LOT of people. Some cancelled their orders. What to do? He said philosophically. They all came at one shot."

This is one of the reasons I didn't want to write a full-length feature about AJ's Pizza and Pasta. Having tasted the consequences second-hand at Vary Pasta (the writer was so traumatized that he ate his pork knuckle dinner in quiet terror, while the waiters dashed about in a tizzy attending to the avalanche of customers), I knew the consequences of a review in a major national newspaper: pandemonium.

A two-man show like AJ's wouldn't be able to handle a crowd of such mob-like proportions.

All said and done, I was ecstatic when Khan sent me this message: "God bless you. You care for us."

Ah, food for my stomach, heart and soul :)

Latest articles

For the full text, please click here

Haven't had time to do my regular cataloguing cos have been occupied with work, play, and .... jeng jeng jeng ...

INDIA!!!!

So was that 18-year-old foaming-at-the-mouth wait worth it?

Hell yes.

To quote this quaint restaurant in Mysore that a rickshaw recommended to me (yes, and I use the word quaint most legitimately! Check out the menu below!), it exceeded my every expectation.

I love the hospitable people. The vivid colours. The tongue-singeingly spicy food. The eye-popping OTT-ness.

For proof, just check out the menu below.

Quaint kan?

I'm already planning my next trip back.

Chennai? Calcutta? Bombay?

I'm in heaven

To read the full text, please click here.

I thought this was a rather strange title - no, I didn't supply it - until a friend pointed out it could have been extracted from an old pop song:

Pity the picture didn't come out too well in print.

Here's the haul for the rest of the day:

The institutional yong tau fu stall in Madras Lane

The out-of-this-world linguine carbonara I was salivating over a few hours later at Carmen's. Thanks for the tip, Samantha Fong!

All in all, a great day that kind of paid off for itself, although I DID haul myself out of bed at 7.30am and only got back home at nearly midnight after squeezing in 7 appointments in a single day.

Who says freelance shake legs only?

Spunky Madam

To read the full text, please click here

In all honesty, I was never a huge fan of duck until I ate at Madam Heng's. Restaurant Hong Kong was merely another name in my litany of must-visit restaurants for the Perak Good Food Guide, which I was commissioned to write in 2008.

It was lust at first bite - the juicy-fleshed, crispy-skinned duck was simply otherworldly.

Since then, I've been a regular visitor, if not to eat, then just to drop by and shoot the breeze with the amiable auntie who runs the shop.

This story took a while to crystallize. It really is a tapestry of numerous events that seemed random and unconnected and unimportant save for their entertainment value, until the final piece - that dinner that I didn't want to happen but happened anyway - fell into place.

Unanticipated. That's how they all happen right - whether it's the right moment, the right story or the right person? :)

...

To give you an inkling just how good her roast duck is ...

By the way, credits to Wang Shao Ming for the "I am fine, you are fine, we are fine" photo. My bad for forgetting to submit your name, no fault of The Star. Roast duck on me, ya? ;)

Winsome Pekan

To read the full article, please click here

Part II, and some of my other pix that ended up on the chopping floor...

That room which reminds me of my grandma's old house :) At RM55 per night, you can't beat Chief's Rest House for bumper value.

I managed to sneak a quick walking tour of the Royal Quarter before heading back to Kuantan. It was postcard-pretty traditional houses galore :)

My favourite animal - after dogs and cats and goats ...

If you've never seen opor daging in your life - nah!

The Abu Bakar mosque, a majestic sight even against the overcast sky backdrop

Now. Where next? Betong? Gopeng? Dungun .... Just randomly rattling off places that have been suggested to me.

To be continued ;)

Point me to Pekan

Article is here

Taken at Chief's Rest House.

Of course I didn't make it all up :P

I used to go off on off-the-beaten-track jaunts like this ALL the time, before age and its attendant paranoia kicked in .... well, no more!!!

I've resolved to hit the less-trodden road at least once a month (ok lah make that two. Have to cari makan mah. How can I go off charging to obscure little towns so often?)

But I WILL make it a fixture in my schedule. I was lugubrious before I hit the road, and after I came back from Pekan, I was like a new woman!

And if there's anything that Pekan proved, there's nothing like the promise of adventure to put a spring in my step and rekindle the fire in my belly :)

*a thousand anguished editors scream CORNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY*

Excuse me while I go eat a cup of Nelson's buttered kernels :P

Toodles,

The Flouncy Bouncy Bunny

In case anyone is wondering, I'm working on the sequel to Point me to Pekan right now, hold your horses ya. Not sure if it is going to end up on Navel Gazer or as a travel piece. Will see where the stars lead me.

*And a thousand editors shudder in horror at this shameless use of cliche*

A child's wisdom

Scratching Post, Weekender, The Star

For the full text, please click here.

There are some articles I keep out of my folks' radar.

Sexually charged ones (my column may focus on fluffy feelgood stuff but rabbits are not conventionally associated with Lily White ok :P), and articles like these.

It'd only worry them silly, and then they'd worry me sick with questions I have no answers to like: "Girl, are you making enough? Don't worry about mum and dad. We have more than enough to spend from our pension."

... the point is, I come from a very traditional family, with a firm set of values that includes the automatic expectation that after your folks have raised you and put you through university, it's now your turn to give back.

I miss that part of my corporate life. BAD. I miss sending them on holidays, giving them healthy doses of pocket money, surprising them with an expensive meal or two.

Right. Time to actually actualize that best-seller novel huh?

Bitch as I might about the sucky customers and ridiculous demands, I would never go back to my desk job. Still, it's only normal, I suppose, to have the odd dark moment of doubt ...

This article sprung from one of those dark moments. I had another more chipper piece already drafted but somehow, it felt disengenuous to send off a piece that didn't mirror my mood of the moment. As my deadline drew nearer, I started to panic. How? I don't have anything else that reflected the conflict that was percolating inside. And I didn't want Navel Gazer to deviate from my original vision of what it was: an honest, unvarnished reflection of my feelings of the moment.

Luckily, my meeting with Fenny came along and saved the day, phew!

On unrelated matters, may I have your indulgence, ladies and gentleman:

I just started a new fashion diary blog at http://frockout.blogspot.com

I originally intended it to be an online blogshop to sell off my pre-loved baju but I'm having so much fun recording my sartorial musings so, as the wise sages say, que sera sera!

My pretty new sandals :)

It was an experiment for both of us.

Me: I'd never known there were such things called painted shoes.

Her: she'd done this on canvas, and glass, and ceramic ... but never rubber. And cheap rubber at that (psst...these pasar malam sandals cost a fiver shhhhh)

Neither of us had any idea how they would turn out - whether the paint would last, or the patterns would turn out pretty, but I needn't have worried. In the sure hands of Carmen Hah, a grimy pair of sandals was given a fresh new lease of life.

Pretty and delicate enough to satisfy my feminine wiles, yet free-spirited enough to appease my hippie sensibilities :)

This, ladies and gentlemen, is just the tip of the iceberg. To see more of what Carmen can do, hop over to carmenbrushtech.blogspot.com/

And to Denis, thanks for providing the link. Truly, your cosy diner is Ipoh's answer to Cheers, where everybody knows your name. Can't wait to sink my teeth into your delectable smoked duck and spaghetti carbonara *drools*

Gosh. It's amazing how one simple story can set off such a long chain in motion ;)

Dreams from a hot wok

Scratching Post, Weekender, The Star

To read the full article, please click here

Anyone can dream. You don't need balls to do that.

But to actualize that dream takes plenty of guts - and grit. Stuff which Tam has truckloads of.

I've eaten at and known Tam for years. Enjoyed his food, and then later his company, and went on to develop an abiding admiration for his quiet, unassuming ways.

That's the man! :)

There are many reasons why I like going to Tam.

He's just downstairs (i.e. opposite Super Tanker, opens from 6-ish in the evening to 2am)

He's always ready with a smile for me (yes, even through those Sars-struck days)

... and of course, when inspired, his food is Tam's up (sorry, couldn't resist! :D)

Sometimes our conversations resemble chicken-and-duck talk - he speaks in a thick loghat that my bunny ears have occasional trouble unscrambling. Nevertheless their musical quaintness never fail to charm, even his smses:

Like today, "Saya x pandai BI tapi fahamla sikit nanti ptg sy suroh kwn terjemah dkt sy."

"Suroh?" So quaint! So old-school!

Or the other day, "Awak cakap buat saya ketawa hingga berguling. Apapun TQ. BZ ni pelanggan ramai nak masak dlu"

Is it just me, or is it a lot more fun to sms in BM? :)

One of my earliest food pieces, published in 2005 or 6

Travelling Light

Trivial Pursuit, Weekender, 28th November 2009

To read the full article, please click here

Long before there was ever a Navel Gazer column, travel stories were my stock-in trade.

Fresh out of corporate hell, my feet were itchy to explore the uncharted universe beyond my tiny factory cubicle.

Kuching - or to be exact, Ran, the charming town I got my first taste of longhouse living - ignited my wanderlust.

Then came Turkey, IMHO the most beautiful country on earth.

The mother of all vacations was my seven whopping weeks in California of course.

I got to know my mum better.

I got to interview the hottest guys on the planet up close (and got my butt grabbed by one to haha)

And most of all, I learnt that you didn't always need a fortune to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

My most memorable meal in the US (though don't tell my aunt that!) was the USD2-3 chicken nuggets MUm & I ate at a Popeyes outlet. The cashier peered at our identitiy card with curiosity. "Oh, Malaysia ...I've heard of it.. but not too sure where it is though," she laughed sheepishly.

Uh huh. Looks like our tourism folks still have some distance to cover, when it comes to putting our country on the world map. ;)

I've always had wanderlust.

My first major overseas trip was to a town in Southern Thailand called Yala, where I stayed with a Thai family for two weeks. I wolfed down lots of spicy local food, went round helmet-free on on my hostess' scooter and ate towering sundaes in the town's biggest hotel. Pure bliss :)

Writing this article - a light, breezy change from my usual introspective stock-in-trade - reminded me just how much I miss travelling, and writing about my travels.

Keep your fingers crossed.

If all the planets and stars align, there should be some major globe-trotting on the cards in 2010 ;)

Oh btw peeps, in case you're wondering, here are some crude shots of my "Umbrella bag" and "Adidas kampung" :)

Naughty pupils make good teachers

Scratching Post, Weekender, 26th September 2009

To read the full article, please click here

In school, I was known as the goody-two-shoes. The geek. The (cringe) teacher's pet.

Little did everybody know, I longed to be anything BUT. I harboured a burning desire to be the coolest girl in school, a girl like Sharmila.

Some (misguided) teachers might have labelled her naughty, but to me, she was a heroine. A tad rebellious. Witty as hell. But always brave. All the qualities I aspired to.

Obviously I couldn't be her. So what was the next best thing?

To be with her, of course. Form 2 and 3, the two years I spent a lot of time with her and the ZOPFAN gang (you know who you are) were two of my happiest.

Judging from the responses I received, this story struck quite a few chords, though the only person's response that I was worried about was the story's heroine - Sharmila.

I've written about heaps of people in the past. The difference is, they knew of my intentions. I usually forewarned them at least a day before the article was due to come out.

In Sharmila's case, I wanted to surprise her. Consider it a revenge for calling me "Dangerous."

"She's going to freak out," my ex-colleague Poh See hooted with laughter.

I send Sharmila an sms first thing in the morning. No reply. At 8-ish am, an hour I deem suitably decent, I call her. "Have you read?"

"Dei," she growls in a sleep-slurred voice. "I got your earlier sms already. I am not so fast wei. I just got up lah. You think I'm superhero ah dei."

10am. 11am. 12 noon. Already, five readers have written to me. Not a word from her.

I text Chang. "Could she be angry? So long also no response one."

"She is probably busy at her husband's clinic. Remember, teacher by day, clerk by night, and sexy wife at midnight."

"Cannot be. Today is Saturday and a holiday. "

"Holiday means data entry girl the whole day. What I see is only praises. She might be crying her heart now, touched by your magic words." (I have always maintained that I'm not smart or witty in the least; I am merely fortunate to have smart and witty friends, who have a propensity for poking gentle fun at me)

I am not convinced, so I sms Sharmila again. "Are you angry?" I ask timidly.

"No. How can I be angry at a bunny?"

Her cryptic reply plants the first seeds of suspicion. Maybe ... she... hadn't... read it?

At noon-ish, she texts me. "My husband read already. I just got the paper. Will read after lunch. Reaction at 1400 hour.

1400 hour?????

GRRR!!!!

What kind of a human being can be so cool and clinical while her friend is practically apoplectic with anxiety???

At five minutes past five, my phone lights up.

"Now my husband thinks I put frogs in people's pockets..." she says before dissolving into laughter.

"Didn't you? Hmmm. Maybe old already, foggy memory."

We speak for a while before putting down the phone. A text comes in. "Thanks mate. I hope others read and make a difference."

So do I, Sharmila, so do I.

Papa the storyteller

Navel Gazer, The Weekender, 29th August 2009

To read the full article, please click here

"Wah. Now I know why your mother fell for him. Your father looks so handsome and smart."

Chang's probably just joshing me, but isn't that what all starry-eyed little girls feel about their father? And woe betide any unfortunate suitor who falls short of her daddy's lofty standards, ahem :)

Dad is one of those rare beings the Chinese call hoe sin sang. In Chinese, being an onomatopeic language, the phrase could mean one of two things: 1) Good man 2) Good teacher. As if all the forces of fate conspire to converge, my dad fits both the bills :)

He is legendary among my good friends for storytelling skills. On the eve of my gall bladder operation, he pinned my two besties Chang and Wendy to the hospital canteen chairs with horrific high-drama (his painful encounters with kidney stones) and feelgood fables (more Chinese fairy tales with an uplifting moral). Even I, who'd heard it all before, couldn't help grimacing when he recalled, with a relish he could afford on hindsight, the gruesome pain of kidney stones.

We were sitting in the hospital canteen when a faraway look entered Dad's eyes. He recalled, "The worst kind of pain is kidney stone pain."

I looked at mum. "How did Dad get it?"

"He grew up in Pangkalan, where there were a lot of tin mines. I guess it could be the minerals in the water they drank..."

"The stone is passing through your urethra, a tube so slender.." he shuddered. "It was so painful that my entire body broke out in sweat."

Mum nodded gravely. "He was bellowing like a cow. I drove him to the clinic and he couldn't even climb out of the car. The doctor had to come to the car and administer the jab..."

Suffice to say, Dad wasn't the only one who shuddered.

"I used to think, gallstones, kidney failure, back pain, all these things only happen to old people like our parents..." I said ruefully. "Guess what, we got old too. Or at least, are getting older.

"Yeah look in the mirror woman, face the facts staring right at you," Chang chipped in.

Indeed. Like it or not, I've got to deal with the fact that my body isn't an invincible machine anymore, able to withstand the vagaries of an unhealthy lifefstyle with no wear and tear.

"Can't sing that song by Corrs anymore...how does the refrain go, "We are so young, so young, so young now," Chang continued.

"No more fatty food. OMG." I facepalmed melodramatically.

"Look on the bright side," Chang quipped, "at least you save on liposuction."

What was that again ... Sai Ung Sat Ma? :)

People stories

Perak Food Trail, Going Places, May 2009

What's the greatest thing about being a writer?

Is it the travel perks? The free food? The schwag?

"Lexicophilia," I used to answer without hesitation. I did go into writing because I loved words. As much as I enjoy word-play, these days I've uncovered an even more powerful dope - the chance to live vicariously.

During an interview which will be published in October, I found myself saying, "Every time I meet someone for a story, I learn something new," when he asked me why I chose to write, rather than say, sell computers for a living. (My old job, if you didn't know)

You don't just write stories about people's lives - in the process of coaxing the story out of them, you LIVE that person's life. When you talk to people who are still madly in love with their work/craft/pursuit, you get the privilege to relive their highs and lows, see through their eyes, walk in their shoes.

The heroes from my favouritest burger stall in the world :), Thum's Burger

What other job provides you with this window of opportunity, over and over again?

....

Sorry for lack of updates. Byline also made recent appearance in:

The Star Weekender Last Saturday of every month

Going Places June 2009 Rustic Rendezvous; August 2009 Renewed Wows

Quill (Jul-Sept '09) That's the way the cookie crumbles The Hard Life of Writers

Millionaireasia (Sg & Malaysia) Personality Profile Tiah Joo Kim, TA Group's Heir Apparent

Malaysian Insider Numerous. Please visit http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/blogs/category/food-blog/

The Iron Horse Driver & Ipoh's Mother-lode of Liew

Food, Weekender, The Star

For the full story, please click here

On lucky occasions, writers stumble upon stories they feel an instant affinity for: stories they enjoy exploring, reliving, and in some cases, eating.

These were two such stories :)

Above is my ode to an all-time Ipoh favourite - liew! Be still my wagging tongue :D

On the same day, this came out:

Scratching post, Weekender, The Star

For the full story, please click here

By now, I already know that these kind of low-wattage pieces about everyman don't register nearly as many hits, but my ode to Abang Azmi of KTM surely ranks as my favourite of all time for now, next to the jungle rain piece I did for Going Places in March 2009.

I must have met Azmi in January or so. After getting down from the train, I jotted down my experience in one breathless rush as soon as I could get my hands on a pc, and filed it away with the dozens (maybe hundreds?) of other drafts I've written and tucked away in my computer.

While I knew his story was too compelling to reserve for my own enjoyment, I just couldn't hit the perfect final note. Even after dozens of drafts, I felt none of them were good enough to do justice to him, nor stand up to public scrunity. At one point, I despaired of it ever seeing the light of day.

The day it came out, I duly sent Azmi an sms in the morning, citing page, section etc.

One of his replies was: "I dah war-war kan artikel you pada kawan-kawan I."

Wow. Don't you think that single sms captured the zeitgeist of his personality, far more eloquently than my 1K whopper?

That man sure has a way with words ;)

(Not quite a ) Weary Writer

Scratching Post, Weekender, The Star

For the full story, please click here

To be perfectly honest, I hesitated at the Send button. This was such an awfully personal piece after all. 

In the end I decided to go ahead anyway, becauseI had a feeling that it would strike a chord with many people. I've just seen it happen so many times. Not just to me, but to my friends and loved ones - people working themselves (and their health by default) to the ground because they didn't know how to get off the rogue locomotive. 

Like me, they forgot that they were controlling the steering wheel. 

I wrote this about 2 months ago. Since then, other things have happened. Not necessarily bad things, just things that made me reevaluate life from a different slant. I've come to the conclusion that nothing is really over until YOU decide it's over. 

To those who asked, yes, I am better now. Much, much better. 

Thanks for caring. I am a blessed girl :)

XOXO

Bunny

Pondok of goodness

Food, Weekender, The Star
For the full story, please click here

What do I love about mom and pop shops? Everything! The down-to-earth prices. The unpretentious service. But most of all, the soul in the food.

For parents aka lovable perfectionists, every detail is a matter of fierce beating pride. Whether it is a hearty bowl of kon loe min, or seasoning for onion rings, no culinary endeavour is too insignificant to be left to chance.

So much as SUGGEST that their standards for the day, are less than sterling, and I'll bet your kitchen artiste (Because that's what they are, no less) would turn ashen, accept your assessment with trembling lips, escape into the kitchen before thumping their chests Tarzan-style, and proceeding to dump the whole fleet of sauces and with a vengeance.

Proof can be found no further than The Headmaster, who once bellowed at his trembling assistant, "Don't leave the potatos exposed to air! Now cannot use already. You have to dump the whole tupperware!"

Oklah, one swallow does not make a flock, but you get my point :)

Make no mistake, for a parent, every epicurean endeavour is a fierce commitment to love.

And Pondok, you will find upon entering its heartwarming premises, is another passionate testament to this philosophy.